As U.S. coronavirus death toll tops 50,000, a handful of states edge toward reopening

By Rich McKay

 

Barber Tommy Thomas, 69, who has been cutting hair for 50 years, gives his long-time customer Fred Bentley a haircut after the Georgia governor allowed a select number of businesses to open during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. April 24, 2020. REUTERS/Julio-Cesar Chavez

 

ATLANTA (Reuters) - With the U.S. coronavirus death toll topping 50,000, Georgia, Oklahoma and a handful of other states took the first tentative steps at reopening for business on Friday, despite the disapproval of President Donald Trump and health experts.

 

Gyms, hair salons, tattoo parlors and some other businesses were allowed to open their doors by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who disregarded warnings from public health officials that relaxing restrictions could lead to more infections and deaths.

 

The southern U.S. state has become a flashpoint in the debate over how quickly the country should return to work.

 

While the COVID-19 illness is killing thousands of Americans daily, stay-at-home policies have made millions jobless.

 

"We've been hurting real bad," said Lester Crowell, co-owner and manager of the Three-13 hair salon in suburban Atlanta, which reopened after 33 days. "I had to dip into my own bank account to keep the lights on here," he said.

 

A dozen customers lined up outside the salon, each standing six feet apart. Before they could enter, staff members took their temperatures and asked if anyone had a cough, a recent fever or anyone in their house who had been sick or quarantined.

 

Despite the lost revenues, not all eligible businesses in Georgia jumped at the chance to reopen. Shay Cannon, owner of Liberty Tattoo in Atlanta, said he would reopen in May by appointment only and did not foresee a return to normal until June or later.

 

"We're just watching the numbers and doing what seems right to us," Cannon told Reuters.

 

The U.S. COVID-19 death toll, the highest in the world, topped 50,000 on Friday, having doubled in 10 days, according to a Reuters tally, and the number of Americans known to be infected surpassed 875,000.

 

Jasmine Maskell, owner of Timeless Tattoo in Atlanta, said she was not opening on Friday but would slowly resume business over the next couple of weeks under strict precautions.

 

The shop would operate as if everyone is infected, Maskell said. "We will just operate under that notion and then we can keep everyone safe here."

 

Oklahoma was opening some retail businesses on Friday, Florida started letting people visit some of its beaches last Friday, South Carolina began easing restrictions on Monday, and other states will relax guidelines next week.

 

A Republican, Trump has given mixed signals about when and how the country should begin to get back to work after weeks in lockdown. This month he called for Democratic governors to "liberate" their states but, in a reversal this week, he told a news conference he disapproved of Georgia's move to reopen.

 

Late on Thursday, Trump sparked fresh confusion over the prospects for treating COVID-19, suggesting that scientists should investigate whether patients might be cured by ingesting disinfectant.

 

The comments prompted doctors and health experts to warn the public not to drink or inject disinfectant. On Friday, Trump said his remarks were meant as sarcasm.

 

Asked about the 50,000 deaths and whether he felt any responsibility, Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday: "I think we've done a great job." He pointed to early estimates that suggested the coronavirus could lead to at least 100,000 deaths in the United States.

 

"We're going to be, hopefully, far below that," he said.

 

CONFUSING FOR CUSTOMERS

 

U.S. Representative Doug Collins from Georgia, a Republican like the state's governor Kemp, said reopening on Friday was confusing for customers.

 

"Everyone's supposed to be staying home, but yet we're opening up these businesses," Collins told Fox News. He cited federal guidelines calling for states to have a two-week decline in cases first, and said parts of Georgia were still struggling to treat patients.

 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose state has been the worst hit by the coronavirus, said reopening the economy too early in any U.S. state was a danger to others.

 

"Assume the virus got on the plane that night and flew to New York or flew to Newark airport. That has to be the operating mentality," he told a news briefing.

 

According to a model maintained by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, which is used by the White House, hospitalizations in Georgia will peak next week.

 

Oklahoma, with far fewer cases and deaths than Georgia, began opening hair and nail salons, barber shops and other personal care businesses on Friday. The IHME model predicts that Oklahoma already hit its hospitalizations peak on Tuesday and could loosen restrictions on June 17.

 

Tennessee reopened most of its 56 state parks on Friday.

 

Texas on Friday began it's "retail-to-go" phase of the reopening, allowing retail shops to either deliver products to homes, or letting customers wait in cars in parking lots and have items handed by store workers.

 

In practice, many Texas businesses have been doing this for weeks or stayed open outright, as Governor Greg Abbott had classified many retail businesses as essential.

 

In the latest protest against the shutdowns, hundreds of people gathered on Friday outside the Wisconsin state capitol building in Madison where they called for Democratic Governor Tony Evers to reopen the state.

 

"Stand strong, be united and stand tall and proud for America," said one of the protesters through a bullhorn. Many people in the crowd wore Trump hats, waved American flags and carried "Go Back To Work" signs.

 

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta, Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut, Susan Heavey and Jeff Mason in Washington, Brad Brookes in Austin, Shannon Stapleton in Madison and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Writing by Nathan Layne and Alistair Bell; Editing by Frank McGurty and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-25

 

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Same thing happened in 1918, the places that opened up suffered the most deaths.

 

Given that the obese are vulnerable let’s hope Oklahoma denizens are slim, fit, young, and diabetes free. Otherwise they’ll be clogging up the intensive care units.
 

I’m sympathetic to wanting to open up the economy but you need a plan in place to test and isolate to keep the numbers down. I guess Brian Kemp knows what he’s doing? Not.

 

 

 

Pretty big spike in cases on Thursday, which had been flattening around 30,000 per day, jumped to 37,000 on Thursday, April 23. Deaths also seem to be rising.

 

At this rate we might hit 1,000,000 and 60,000 deaths on Sunday.

 

 

Good luck to the brave people that will move the country forward.

Go ahead and reopen, you feeling lucky !

 

Quote

Study: Elderly Trump voters dying of coronavirus could cost him in November

An academic journal projects that deaths of 65-and-older Republican voters in several swing states will far exceed those of Democrats.

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/23/how-coronavirus-could-upend-2020-battlegrounds-204708

2 hours ago, AlexRich said:

Same thing happened in 1918, the places that opened up suffered the most deaths.

 

Given that the obese are vulnerable let’s hope Oklahoma denizens are slim, fit, young, and diabetes free. Otherwise they’ll be clogging up the intensive care units.
 

I’m sympathetic to wanting to open up the economy but you need a plan in place to test and isolate to keep the numbers down. I guess Brian Kemp knows what he’s doing? Not.

 

 

 

 

We could wait inside until we run out of food and put the weak and elderly out on the pack ice. I am being harsh but to protect the weak isn't going to work in the long run. We have an over population problem. You can try to shelter inside until food security begins to break down. It isn't as far away as  you think unless the bread basket works.

3 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

Go ahead and reopen, you feeling lucky !

 

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/23/how-coronavirus-could-upend-2020-battlegrounds-204708

 

I guess a win is a win. lol NYC is going to have a humanitarian tragedy if they continue to sit inside and do nothing. 

Edited April 25, 20206 yr by Cryingdick

A post using a trolling representation of Trump's name and a reply has been removed. 

16 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

Good luck to the brave people that will move the country forward.

..natural selection in action...

1 minute ago, Cryingdick said:

 

We could wait inside until we run out of food and put the weak and elderly out on the pack ice. I am being harsh but to protect the weak isn't going to work in the long run. We have an over population problem. You can try to shelter inside until food security begins to break down. It isn't as far away as  you think unless the bread basket works.

The real solution is to wait until PPE production, testing and tracing contact infrastructures are in place.  Apparently some politicians think it's more productive to cast about for others to blame and firing those who disagree with their approach.  Plus they're willing to risk a resurgence so they can sprint ahead with re-opening.  Iceberg dead ahead!

1 minute ago, Laza 45 said:

..natural selection in action...

 

What a nice thing to say. However I feel that about people who are going to hole up inside until the bodies stink. Some of us are simply unwilling to live like that. Hope it works because that's the food supply.

Just now, gamb00ler said:

The real solution is to wait until PPE production, testing and tracing contact infrastructures are in place.  Apparently some politicians think it's more productive to cast about for others to blame and firing those who disagree with their approach.  Plus they're willing to risk a resurgence so they can sprint ahead with re-opening.  Iceberg dead ahead!

 

The government can't afford more checks to keep every American inside. 

20 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

Good luck to the brave people that will move the country forward.

Too bad the brave Captain Edward Smith can't describe how exciting it was to be moving forward at the wrong speed.

2 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Too bad the brave Captain Edward Smith can't describe how exciting it was to be moving forward at the wrong speed.

 

Wishing the people going out good luck is the decent thing to do. If this doesn't work it won't be good for anybody. If you rely on USD for your income you had better hope this works. If not go screw yourself and stop trolling.

People keep making claims as if the US is the worse off without ever considering our population size,

 

Take that into consideration & see the US is down around 10th place in deaths per million

 

 

1 minute ago, meechai said:

People keep making claims as if the US is the worse off without ever considering our population size,

 

Take that into consideration & see the US is down around 10th place in deaths per million

 

 

 

Subtract NY and NJ and things are much different statistically.

10 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Wishing the people going out good luck is the decent thing to do. If this doesn't work it won't be good for anybody. If you rely on USD for your income you had better hope this works. If not go screw yourself and stop trolling.

Wishing them good sense doesn't seem to work and good luck is a product of preparedness.

 

11 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Subtract NY and NJ and things are much different statistically.

And subtract Spain and Italy and it looks much differently again.

2 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Wishing them good sense doesn't seem to work and good luck is a product of preparedness.

 

Youjust can't bring yourself to say anything positive. I bet you would have said the mission was doomed on D day. You seem to hope it fails out of some sort of warped sense of schadenfreude.

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

And subtract Spain and Italy and it looks much differently again.

So NYC is in big trouble? Did you get your check?

Edited April 25, 20206 yr by Cryingdick

The lack of restriction consistency around the world shows that nobody really knows what they are doing.

In OZ hair salons and barber shops have been open the whole time and hardly anybody wears a mask whilst being out and about. I continue to take the bus to a major shopping mall although only about a third of the stores are open.

In England people are being harassed in their own front gardens, yet I can go to the park for exercise at any time.

9 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

Youjust can't bring yourself to say anything positive. I bet you would have said the mission was doomed on D day. You seem to hope it fails out of some sort of warped sense of schadenfreude.

Dying with the goal of fighting an evil opponent bears no resemblance to dying because you aren't prepared to fight a virus.  Georgia is not prepared.  Living to fight with better odds is much wiser.

Edited April 25, 20206 yr by gamb00ler

I hope they re-open.

A nation with a high proportion of people on hypertension meds is going to have a lot of deaths, but the US also has a higher population that European countries, and many of the reports seem to be elderly or people who were already ill who died 'with COVID' rather than 'from COVID' - so is the number really high?

 

We see the stats being quoted daily by the scare mongering press, but we have no real context.

24 minutes ago, meechai said:

People keep making claims as if the US is the worse off without ever considering our population size,

 

Take that into consideration & see the US is down around 10th place in deaths per million

 

 

You correct, but USA three week after Europe. 

 

I think it be longer than people think. 

 

Eg Italy Lockdown long time already. The peak one month ago. But still about 500 die everyday. It not reduce quickly. 

 

Moreover, the USA/EURO deaths report is not the real, only report die in the hospital, not other place.

 

 

53 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

Good luck to the brave people that will move the country forward.

Still out in the West Virginia boon docks?lol personally I and my family are practicing proper ppe and min 6 foot distancing taking only nessary trips but we are lucky we have the space and the funds to weather the storm I’m sure it’s universal that everyone wants the country to move forward my main concern is the lack of testing and tracing hopefully we don’t start a second wave good health and safety to all

5 minutes ago, Yinn said:

You correct, but USA three week after Europe. 

 

I think it be longer than people think. 

 

Eg Italy Lockdown long time already. The peak one month ago. But still about 500 die everyday. It not reduce quickly. 

 

Moreover, the USA/EURO deaths report is not the real, only report die in the hospital, not other place.

 

 

But how many people die each day anyway?  Is this number exceptionally high or not?  I don't think we really know.

 

The Lancet is currently running a study of 'excess deaths' as there's a growing belief that recording all deaths as 'COVID' just because a person was tested positive when they died of cancer or heart disease etc is distorting the stats.

 

Italy had a higher rate probably due to the 23% elderly in their population, US has a high number due to population size (compared to European countries) plus a high rate of obesity and hypertension, but is it really so high that it justifies forcing people into unemployment? 

 

I think the World is having an outbreak of fear that is having a greater impact than the virus itself.

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Assume the virus got on the plane that night and flew to New York or flew to Newark airport.

This is the danger that may spark a second wave of infection. States should be coordinating their opening with consultation with other states. Cross state travelers  whether by plane, road or rail will undone all the hard work of tough discipline social distancing and testing. 
 

There are just too much at stake for just another half to a full month of compliance. The biggest letdown is the Federal government especially Mike Pence as Task Force leader not having a national plan to coordinate the opening and the testing adequacy is still in doubt. To make matters worse, the President is sending out daily wrong messaging, giving out bad medical advise and continue to be unproductive by wasting time to blame states and media. 

34 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

We see the stats being quoted daily by the scare mongering press

Media reports info provided by government. Are you saying government should stop publishing the stats?

9 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

This is the danger that may spark a second wave of infection. States should be coordinating their opening with consultation with other states. Cross state travelers  whether by plane, road or rail will undone all the hard work of tough discipline social distancing and testing. 
 

There are just too much at stake for just another half to a full month of compliance. The biggest letdown is the Federal government especially Mike Pence as Task Force leader not having a national plan to coordinate the opening and the testing adequacy is still in doubt. To make matters worse, the President is sending out daily wrong messaging, giving out bad medical advise and continue to be unproductive by wasting time to blame states and media. 

Also don't forget that the state opening up now don't even meet the federal guidelines.